Sony Walkman
Sony CEO Howard Stringer reaffirmed the consumer electronics giant’s decision to focus on networked gadgets while discussing its restructuring at a shareholders’ meeting held today, according to Reuters. Stringer said the company would lay off 16,000 workers and close eight of its 57 manufacturing sites as part of an attempt to reduce spending by […]
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We’re playing more online games than ever before, but we’re paying less for them, interactive marketing firm Future Ads said today. Of the 8,000 online casual gamers surveyed by the company this spring, 61 percent reported gaming more than last year, while nearly 80 percent of those who also own a video game console said […]
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The Kindle DX uses E-Ink technology
Prime View International, a Taiwanese company that makes an e-readers display part, said today it would purchase E-Ink, a company that provides the digital ink technology in the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, for $215 million. The two companies have been partners in developing the Sony and Amazon e-reader products, […]

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Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda said today that the joint handset manufacturing effort between Sony and Ericsson  will need to raise at least 100 million euros ($135 million) this year, according to the Nikkei English News. This prompted ratings agency S&P to issue a note saying that the telecommunications equipment vendor should sell its stake in […]

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When it comes to MMOs, freemium worlds for kids are enormously popular and lucrative; for the most part, however, the major game publishers have done little to pursue this market. That changes this month with the launch of Free Realms, a colorful virtual world from Sony Online Entertainment. Since this new franchise is […]

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Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced that it plans to shut down Go!Messenger, a VoIP, video chat, and IM application that launched last February. Citing a lack of interest, Go!Messenger was an intriguing PSP app that leveraged the PSP Go!Cam camera for its video chat capabilities.

Sony explained “Although it proved a popular concept, achieving a significant number of registrations, it didn’t gain the number of regular users that BT and SCEE were aiming for.”

Go!Messenger will end on March 31. But all is not lost. Skype for PSP still works, but it’s too bad Skype for PSP doesn’t support the Go!Cam for some Skype-to-Skype video chat action.

Tags: BT, Go!Cam, Go!Messenger, Skype, Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, video chat, voip

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Despite my addiction to The Age of Empires (and the rest of the franchise), I’m not much of a gamer. Nevertheless, last year a friend of mine let me borrow his Nintendo Wii and after a couple of hours spent playing some of its simpler games, I was hooked. Apparently I’m not alone, for nearly […]

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The poor economy dominated the scene at CES this year, and it led highly anxious exhibitors to highlight lower prices for gadgets like netbooks, cell phones, and A/V devices. The jittery economy is pushing consumers to look for value, and aggressive price points are the best way to coax them into spending their limited stash […]

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Verizon says it’s willing to provide access to its cellular network for wireless devices like the Kindle reader, according to Tony Lewis, vice president of open development at Verizon. He spoke to Reuters in the lead up to CES yesterday and said the public could expect e-readers comparable to Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle running on the […]

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The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES)— at which every new gadget debuting in the year ahead is trotted out for display in a football-sized stadium in Las Vegas — is upon us again. After spending days walking amidst rows of 82-inch flat screen TVs and pocketing useless tchotkes from hundreds of vendors at the show, […]

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As this holiday’s video game sales are tallied up, one thing is already clear: Sony’s PlayStation 3 remains in a fairly distant third place, still eclipsed by Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii. While it’s probably too drastic for Sony to walk away from the PS3, I definitely think they need some bold and […]

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Despite one of the worst economic climates in decades, consumer spending on Black Friday hit $10.6 billion, 3% higher than the day after Thanksgiving in 2007, according to researcher ShopperTrak.

Gadgets accounted for nine of the top 10 most popular Black Friday products, PriceGrabber said.

Data from PriceGrabber.com shows that online consumers are taking advantage of promotions on popular electronics, including LCD and plasma TVs, Blu-ray disc players, digital SLR cameras, laptops and video game consoles.

The most popular products on Black Friday:

1. Nintendo Wii Console
2. Ugg Australia ‘Classic Short’ Boot (how about that!)
3. Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player
4. Samsung LN52A650 52″ LCD TV
5. Nintendo Wii Fit
6. Panasonic TH-42PX80U 42″ Plasma TV
7. Sennheiser HD 555 Headphones
8. Canon EOS Rebel XSi Black SLR Digital Camera Kit
9. Acer Aspire One AOA110-1295 Notebook
10. Canon PowerShot A590 IS Black Digital Camera

And while we are at it, here are the Top 10 categories and percent growth over Black Friday 2007:

1. Women’s Boots - 203%
2. Watches - 202%
3. Blu-ray/HD-DVD Players - 147%
4. Women’s Sleep & Lounge Wear - 415%
5. Games & Puzzles - 151%
6. Women’s Jackets - 110%
7. Music - 96%
8. Headphones - 103%
9. Women’s Dresses - 107%
10. Women’s Casual Shoes - 143%

More at PriceGrabber.com and The Washington Post.

Tags: acer, black friday, canon, nintendo, panasonic, samsung, sennheiser, sony

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 For Sony, Home is where the future of gaming is — or where they would like it to be.

In its battle for the hearts and minds of gamers, Sony is developing a robust social-networking component to its PlayStation 3 console.

The new element, to be called Home, has been in beta testing for weeks and allows users to explore an online world with avatars that can travel from one virtual place to another.

While it’s not exactly a world like World of Warcraft or Linden Labs’Second Life, Home is the most ambitious push by any console maker into creating a virtual world for gamers.

It will live or die on whether it’s simple, fun, and deep enough for gamers who have plenty of other things they want to do — like play games. And the price is right: free for those who have a PS3.

The New York Times/VentureBeat.

Tags: avatars, Home, Linden Labs, PlayStation 3, PS3, Second Life, Sony, World of Warcraft

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  National Geographic Ventures is working with video game makers on branded games for PCs, consoles and handhelds, with such forthcoming titles as National Geographic: Panda for the Nintendo DS and Sony will have National Geographic: Africa.

For the Panda title, look what you will be able to do!

• Interact with pandas - play with, help, teach and nurture your very own cute panda bear
• Learn about pandas - view pictures and read stories about real-life pandas from the National Geographic archives
• Nurture your panda - your panda’s habits change with how you treat and play with it
• More pandas - as your panda develops, new baby pandas will join him in Panda Park
• Play in real time - graphics and sounds change according to the time of day
• Fun playground toys - have fun playing with familiar playground equipment like a tire swing, a see-saw, slides, and more
• Advanced shopping features - let your daily allowance grow and go on a shopping spree, buy panda food and toys immediately or order items by mail via Panda Delivery
• Simple UI - interact with your panda with a single touch of the stylus pen, simple controls allows you to focus on interacting with your panda

Almost like Panda Tycoon!

More at Bandai Namco Games.

• Interact with pandas - play with, help, teach and nurture your very own cute panda bear
• Learn about pandas - view pictures and read stories about real-life pandas from the National Geographic archives
• Nurture your panda - your panda’s habits change with how you treat and play with it
• More pandas - as your panda develops, new baby pandas will join him in Panda Park
• Play in real time - graphics and sounds change according to the time of day
• Fun playground toys  - have fun playing with familiar playground equipment like a tire swing, a see-saw, slides, and more
• Advanced shopping features - let your daily allowance grow and go on a shopping spree, buy panda food and toys immediately or order items by mail via Panda Delivery
• Simple UI - interact with your panda with a single touch of the stylus pen, simple controls allows you to focus on interacting with your pandaInteract with pandas - play with, help, teach and nurture your very own cute panda bear
• Learn about pandas - view pictures and read stories about real-life pandas from the National Geographic archives
• Nurture your panda - your panda’s habits change with how you treat and play with it
• More pandas - as your panda develops, new baby pandas will join him in Panda Park
• Play in real time - graphics and sounds change according to the time of day
• Fun playground toys - have fun playing with familiar playground equipment like a tire swing, a see-saw, slides, and more
• Advanced shopping features - let your daily allowance grow and go on a shopping spree, buy panda food and toys immediately or order items by mail via Panda Delivery
• Simple UI - interact with your panda with a single touch of the stylus pen, simple controls allows you to focus on interacting with your panda

The Washington Post/The Associated Press (11/18)  

Tags: bandai namco games, national geographic africa, national geographic panda, nintendo ds, sony

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A report from research consultancy TDG predicts that portals like Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network will soon become formidable competitors to incumbent Pay TV services.

Leveraging broadband-enabled game consoles as the next-generation video platforms — and bypassing cable and satellite TV operators, these companies will offer a compelling alternative to traditional TV programming by providing a more immersive, interactive video experience.

The launch of Microsoft’s Experience and the Xbox Live Netflix streaming video service is a perfect example of how potent these services will soon become. There is little doubt these services are finally ready for prime time.

Even before the launch of Experience, Microsoft’s Xbox Live had amassed some 15,000 movies (1,000 of which are HD) and some 13,000 TV shows for download-to-own. The Netflix partnership adds 12,000 movies and TV programs to the mix, all for free streaming to Netflix subscribers.

Sony’s PlayStation Network has collected close to 1,000 movies and hundreds of TV programs for download-to-own. It has also announced plans to expand dramatically its video library in the next few months in order to compete with Xbox Live. 

Many thanks to Advanced-Television.

Tags: download-to-own, experience, microsoft, netflix, playstation network, sony, xbox live

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Hoping to provide viewers with an easy way to move Internet-based video onto TV screens, GridNetworks has announced a new service that would do just that by routing the content through an Xbox 360 gaming console.

The service is designed to work with any device that uses Universal Plug and Play protocols and, in the future, GridNetworks wants to be able to use Sony’s PlayStation 3 as the conduit as well.

More at Multichannel News.

Tags: gridnetworks, internet-based video, PlayStation 3, Sony, Universal Plug and Play, xbox 360

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Despite a worsening economy, all three current-generation video game consoles had better U.S. sales in October than they did a year ago, according to the latest figures from The NPD Group.

And both Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii sold more units in October, a four-week reporting period, than in September, a five-week period. Wowwee!

Also the worst of the economic bad news had yet to hit in September.

Sony, however, saw month-over-month PlayStation 3 sales decline, while sales of its previous generation (and less expensive) PlayStation 2 remained strong. Also, the PS3 saw the strongest year-over-year sales increase in October.

Nintendo was again the market leader, even though Microsoft cut prices on its Xbox 360 line in September, making its low-end model the least-expensive console on the market. 

More at The Seattle Times.

(Can you blame them for that seemingly pro-MS plug …)

Tags: microsoft, nintendo, npd group, playstation 2, playstation 3, sony, video game console, wii, xbox 360

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Just what the world needs!

Sony has launched a new audio CD format dubbed Blu-spec, which apparently allows users to burn discs with the Blu Laser Diode system without losing compatibility with existing CD drives.

(Backwards compatibility is always a good idea with any kind of new product!) 

(BTW, do you think they will try to revive Digital Audio Tape — remember DAT? — anytime soon?) 

Sony expects to offer about 60 titles by Christmas and holiday season shopping time, but Blu-spec discs currently are only available in Japan.

(Be great if the Blue Man Group were involved in the marketing and promotion … I accept no fee for that free marketing advice.)

More at Pocket-lint.co.uk.

Tags: blu-spec, blue man group, dat, Sony

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Nintendo is reportedly likely to launch a new model of its top-selling handheld player, the DS, in overseas markets by next summer.

Nintendo will start selling the DSi, which can take pictures, play music and is slimmer than the current model, in Japan tomorrow for 18,900 yen ($192) in a move to revive slowing domestic sales ahead of the critical holiday season.

Nintendo previously said it planned an overseas DSi launch in 2009.

DS sales in the April-September fiscal first half grew 3% from a year earlier to 13.73 million units worldwide, beating Sony’s PlayStation Portable by a 2-to-1 margin.

The DS and Wii console, which has outstripped both Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in global sales, have been Nintendo’s twin growth engines in recent years.

Nintendo said it has shipped 200,000 units of the DSi for sales this weekend and plans to ship an additional 100,000 units starting November 4. 

Get more at Reuters.

Tags: ds, dsi, microsoft, nintendo, playstation, sony, xbox 360

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The last time technology investments took a hit, it was easy to look around at the scattered sock puppets and dark fiber, and blame the downturn on the rapid run-up in venture-backed funding for me-too companies and unproven business models. But this time around, what will haunt technology companies isn’t their wholehearted embrace of the […]

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Sony has ruled out cutting the price of the PlayStation 3 console before Christmas, insisting that the PS3 is better value than rivals half its price.

(Maybe time to rethink that in today’s — or at least last week’s — economy?)

With up to 50% of video game sales made in the run-up to Christmas, Sony is gambling that despite the weak economy, consumers will not just buy the cheapest machine.

If they do, Sony could lose further ground to Nintendo’s Wii and to Microsoft’s entry-level Xbox 360, which sells for $199 in the U.S. after a price cut in September - half the $399 cost of the cheapest PS3.

Sony argues that the basic Xbox has no hard disk drive, while the PS3 plays High-Definition Blu-ray movies as standard. 

Sony launched its third PlayStation model in the line in November 2006. The PS3 competes most directly with the Xbox 360. Both are high-powered consoles that have sold well to gaming enthusiasts, but neither has matched the casual appeal and rapid success of the much cheaper Wii. 

More at the Financial Times.

Tags: blu-ray, microsoft, playstation 3, sony, wii, xbox 360

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Comments on this Entry:

(Free Gadgets on
Oct 14, 2008 9:50 AM)

After Microsoft dropped the prices of the XBox360 I really expectd Sony to follow suit but they must have enough faith (and money) to keep these prices.

(Wii on
Oct 18, 2008 6:06 AM)

You would have thought, that with XBox 360s being lowered in prices, that they would have lowered the prices too for Chritmas?

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Can’t get to the ringing cell phone fast enough ladies because it’s hidden inside your briefcase, purse, bag or pocket?

Well, does Sony have a product for you!

The new Bluetooth MBW-200 range of Bluetooth watches is an expansion of the highly successful Bluetooth MBW-150 range, which enables you to control your phone with your watch.

Missed an important call or SMS because you couldn’t hear or find your phone at the bottom of your handbag? With the MBW-200 this is now a thing of the past. Using innovative Bluetooth technology, the watch displays the caller ID and vibrates as your phone is ringing or when you receive an SMS.

Reject or mute the call with a button on the watch or use the Bluetooth headset or mobile phone to answer the call and start chatting.

Designed in partnership with watch industry leader Fossil and the knowhow of Sony Ericsson, the MBW-200 series comes in three distinct designs; Sparkling Allure, Contemporary Elegance and Evening Classic.

The collection features scratch-resistant mineral crystal glass with an anti-glare coating for optimum readability and glow. The discreet, yet stylish and clear monochrome OLED display is invisible when not in use and clearly visible on a bright day so that you can easily see who is calling or which track is playing.

Features include:

• Reject or mute call through the watch
• Vibrates on new SMS/MMS — and an out of range warning — when 30 feet away from your phone
• Discreet yet clear caller ID — OLED display
• Play, pause, stop or skip a track on your phone’s music player
• Quartz movements for exact time keeping — both digital and analog
• Auto pairing — easier to connect the watch to your phone
• Water resistant up to 3 ATM
• Allergy safe stainless steel
• Mineral crystal scratch resistant face with antiglare coating 

Availability in early Q4 2008. 

Tags: bluetooth, cell phone, fossil, mbw-200, sony, sony ericsson, wrist watch

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Steve Jobs, as he was launching the latest version of Apple’s iPod, declared war on game console makers Sony and Nintendo. “It’s the best portable device for playing games,” Jobs said of the new iPod touch. Using the touch and the iPhone, Apple hopes to do battle with the Nintendo DS and PSP. But it’s […]

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The electronic newspaper, a large portable screen that is constantly updated with the latest news, has been a prop in science fiction for ages. It also figures in the dreams of newspaper publishers struggling with rising production and delivery costs, lower circulation and decreased ad revenue from their paper product.

While the dream device remains on the drawing board, Plastic Logic is introducing its version of an electronic newspaper reader — a lightweight plastic screen that mimics the look, but not the feel, of a printed newspaper.

The device, which is unnamed, uses the same technology as the Sony eReader and Amazon’s Kindle (photo above).

Both of those devices are intended primarily as book readers, but Plastic Logic’s device has a screen that is more than twice as large. The size of a piece of copier paper, it can be continually updated via a wireless link and can store and display hundreds of pages of newspapers, books and documents.

The reader will go on sale in the first half of next year. Plastic Logic will not announce which news organization will display its articles on it until the International Consumer Electronics Show in January, when it will also reveal the price. 

Read more about it at the New York Times.

Tags: Amazon, electronic book, electronic newspaper, eReader, Kindle, plastic logic, Sony

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Sony has issued a recall for thousands of its VAIO laptops because of possible overheating or short-circuits.

(Didn’t we blog about another similar Sony problem not all that long ago?) 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said that the recall is voluntary, and it recommended that Vaio owners stop using the products unless otherwise instructed.

The recall affects 73,000 VAIO TZ-series computers in the U.S. and apparently 440,000 units worldwide.

The safety commission said the reason for the recall is because “irregularly positioned wires near the computer’s hinge and/or a dislodged screw inside the hinge can cause a short-circuit and overheating.”

It added that this hazard could result in burns to consumers. In fact, the commission reported that Sony has received 15 reports of overheating, including one person who received a minor burn.

The affected models are the VAIO VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series, and VGN-TZ2000 series. Sony will arrange for any needed inspection or repair.

Sony posted a statement on its eSupport site that said “the issues involve a small number of units which may overheat due to a wiring problem.” 

Here’s the official notification from the CPSC.

Tags: consumer products safety commission, notebook, sony, vaio

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Hollywood take note: Sony Pictures is the sixth (and final) major movie studio to pull up stakes in South Korea, where blazing fast, ubiquitous broadband has sucker-punched the market for DVD sales and rentals, NewTeeVee reports today. In Korea, where average broadband penetration rate by household hit 90.1 percent last year (and […]

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According to Reuters, Sony’s joint venture with cell phone maker Ericsson must do better.

Asked whether Sony is planning to end its Sony Ericsson joint venture, Sony head honcho Howard Stringer said: “It’s certainly been a difficult year but buying out a partner is never an easy thing.”

Sony lowered its group net profit forecast for the year to March by 17 percent, citing a slump at Sony Ericsson and weakening prospects for its electronics division amid tough price competition.

“We have to work together again as we did two years ago. Or the joint venture will have to find its own solution,” Stringer said.

He added that it was hard for a company to be as nimble as possible when it works in a joint venture.

Are the bells starting to toll?  And will that be the last ring tone from Sony Ericsson?

Lots more here.

Tags: ericsson, howard stringer, reuters, sony

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The German magazine Die Welt has scored an exclusive interview with Howard Stringer, the CEO of Sony. Maybe you have PlayStation 3 sitting in your living room or recall that Sony won the high-definition DVD format war with its Blu-Ray technology? In this interview Stringer sets his sights higher, on the domination of home networking. […]

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In Singapore, the Dutch consumer electronics maker Philips is designing a multimedia server to stream audio and video through the air, from the Internet to any device in the home.

In Munich, a former unit of Siemens envisions a cordless phone that would double as a music player, wirelessly drawing music from home computers.

In Japan, members of Sony’s global “digital home team” are redesigning 90% of the company’s home electronics components to connect wirelessly to the Internet by 2011.

Across the consumer electronics industry, the leading players are revamping their audio and video equipment for a future centered around the Internet, a world in which televisions, stereos, computers — even kitchen appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators — can communicate with each other over a wireless home network.

Some industry executives say the new focus on Internet content and wireless networks reflects a fundamental shift in home entertainment. 

Expanded lines of “networked entertainment equipment” took center stage this week at the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin, the largest consumer electronics convention in Europe, with 1,200 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors.

Sony is introducing plug-in adapters to enable some of its Bravia television sets to connect to the Internet wirelessly. Philips is demonstrating a line of hard-disc stereo systems that can wirelessly read and play music stored on personal computers or laptops in other rooms, streaming music selectively through the house.

Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp are presenting flat-panel TVs that hook up to the Internet, some with wires, some without. Hewlett Packard’s MediaSmart LCD TV will wirelessly stream high-definition video. 

More at the International Herald Tribune.

Tags: HP, philips, samsung, sharp, siemens, sony

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Later today, the PlayStation Store will reportedly be updated with the addition of the PlayStation Home theme.

By downloading the theme, users are submitting an application to join the PlayStation Home Beta test community. This will be an inside experience test driving something that could be very cool — and your input will help make it so.

Sony will be using a variety of criteria, including activity on the PlayStation Network, to determine who is eligible for the Beta community. 

Existing beta testers have automatically qualified to be part of the expanded beta.

Interested? Check it out here.

Tags: playstation, playstation home, sony

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With Sony announcing today that its Reader Digital Book will be able to read electronic books published using the .epub format — the same that many of the largest book publishers are using — ring in a new age for e-books?

Until now, Sony’s e-book reader could only read books available from the Sony e-book store, PDF documents and digital rights management (DRM)-free text.

Starting next month, the new PRS-505 Sony Reader will be able to access secure DRM- and non-DRM-protected content in the .epub format, formerly called the Open eBook format.

The Sony Reader Digital Book is the first e-book reading device to support the .epub format, which is the XML-based standard format proposed by the International Digital Publishing Forum. It allows publishers to convert books to different formats, protect the copy using DRM and adds the ability to resize PDF e-books and other text to better fit the reader’s screen size.

Such publishers as Harper Collins, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Penguin are offering texts in the .epub format.

CNet has more on this development here.

Tags: cnet, ebook, ebook reader, open ebook format, Reader, sony

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Israeli chip startup Animon, which is pushing a form of whole-home, uncompressed wireless HD, has teamed up with Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Hitachi and Motorola to create the WHDI special interest group. Animon already has products out on the market to offer wireless HD using the same 5 GHz spectrum used by Wi-Fi. But the […]

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Sick and tired of getting a new PC and discovering all of the free trial software and other stuff you don’t need, didn’t ask for and now have clogging up valuable drive space on your new baby?

Well, looks like Sony has taken the noble step of making it possible to configure your own PC (like the VAIO notebook) without any of that extra stuff included. And they do it for free.

Like the concept? Then read more about it here.

Tags: sony, vaio

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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Blu-ray have teamed up with Brickfish to launch the “Why Blu?” campaign at http://www.brickfish.com/Entertainment/whyblu?tab=entries&=blu_pr.

The campaign asks entrants to create a poster, ad or video highlighting the “supreme quality” of Blu-ray Discs.

The grand prize winner, selected by Sony from the top 50 highest-scoring entries, will win a Sony PlayStation 3 with a built in Blu-ray Disc player, and a collection of 8 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Blu-ray movies. Prizes will also be awarded for the entry that gets the most attention across the Internet and to weekly sweepstakes winners.

Be quick though - only 14 days 14 hrs 15 mins to go!

Tags: blu-ray, Brickfish, Sony, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, sony playstation 3, Sony PS3, Why Blu

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While much has been made about how little excitement Sony and Nintendo have generated at the E3 game show (click here), there’s actually some pretty cool stuff coming out.

Take this for example: Nintendo had Shaun White, the gold medalist at the Olympics, demonstrating his upcoming snowboarding game, Shaun White Snowboarding, where you can stand on the sensitive balance board that Nintendo has shipped with its Wii Fit fitness system.

Got to give you a pretty good feeling of what it’s really like (of course without the wind, snow, etc.) — and the feeling of big air!

Game will be available for Xbox 360 and PS3, but what about the board?

Now you too can shred like the greatest!

(Thanks to EXPN.com for the photo.)

Tags: e3, nintendo, olympics, ps3, shaun white, Shaun White Snowboarding, sony, wii, xbox 360

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Dense games are fun games. Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game developers give solo players things to do, but for a game to really succeed players need people to play with. If player density isn’t high enough, you have to condense things, as once-great FPS/MMO Planetside did earlier this year.
Blizzard’s World of Warcraft is a […]

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Can’t believe stuff like this still happens!

Can’t anybody here play this game!

Sony has been forced to pull the 2.40 version of the PlayStation 3 software from download servers because of complaints that the new update was causing problems for the owners of the console. It was only available for an hour, but apparently caused enough mayhem that Sony pulled the plug.

Bad news — they sent it out that way.

Good news — they acted really, really fast to stem to damage.

Read more about it at ZDNet.

Tags: Playstation 3, Sony, zdnet

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For a while there, covering the chip industry was like covering a race run by a rabbit and a cheetah. AMD was the rabbit, while Intel — with its much larger market cap and greater profits — was the cheetah. Evey now and then the rabbit would fool you into thinking he was going to […]

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So  who will be the winner — the ruler — of the home entertainment (media) center battle royale?

Sony is making a strong bid — and why not with its history? — using the PlayStation 3 as the centerpiece of their strategy.

According to Engadget, Sony will make a movie download service available to US PlayStation 3 owners this summer — Japan and Europe at later dates with details coming “next month,” presumably at E3.

Of course, we already knew that Sony was prepped to deliver full-length TV shows and movies sometime in 2008 via its North American PlayStation Network. But summer, eh?

It would be good if someone could make this type of service really, really appealing — nothing out there gets me really excited — except for the overall concept.

And now with the price of gas making dedicated trips to the video store even less appealing (does anyone still do that Blockbuster?), then this has got to be the next killer app.

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Tags: Sony, PS3, PlayStation 3, E3, home entertainment center, movie downloads, Engadget, Blockbuster, North American PlayStation Networki

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I think it’s safe to say that the era of next-gen gaming as a driving force is over. Why? As of the week ending June 7th (the most recent tally available), just over 9 million copies of the highly touted Grand Theft Auto IV had been sold worldwide for the Xbox 360 and […]

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